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14-M Coup
announcing the suspension the Writs of the Setertiamillenniary.]] The 14-M Coup (Eurasian: XIV-M Colpus) was a politico-military coup d'état that took place on May 14th, 1947 in the Eurasian Empire. The coup removed Laurentius III from power and replaced him with his younger brother, Marinus. Considered one of the most important events in modern Eurasian political history, it significantly changed the power dynamic between the Emperor of Eurasia and the Eurasian Senate. The coup began following a proclamation issued on May 12th, 1947, by Laurentius, indicating he sought to nullify the Granadan Compromise and end the sovereignty of Arveyres, bringing it from an autonomous province to one directly under Imperial control. This was viewed as impossible by many Senators and Proconsuls, and two days later, on May 14th, a group of elite members of the nobility, army, and Senate, lead by Marinus, seized power from Laurentius. The seizure came in three steps. First, Marinus, accompanied by several other close family members and the Prime Minister of War, Gaius Lividius Serca, confronted Laurentius at his villa in Argentomagus. Marinus, who had previously served as Prime Minister of War before being dismissed by his brother in 1943, had significant support in the military and amongst the aristocracy, and was widely viewed as more popular than his brother, especially after the war began to turn poorly. At the same time, elements of the Ministry of the Police seized the Senate of Eurasia, with Tribune Antonius Tehero Molinus, who himself was a Proconsul, that the Senate would vote on a suspension of the Writs of the Setertiamillenniary. Through use of coercion, enough votes were reached to achieve this. However, the majority of the Proconsuls were already aware of the plot, and many Senators were also sympathetic, which caused the amount of coercion necessary to secure passage of the suspension was minimal. With the Writs suspended, the Empire effectively had no constitution, which then gave the Emperor absolute authority. The third, and final, step took place when Marinus, after informing his brother of the seizure of the Senate, demanded his abdication, threatening that if he did not abdicate the Senate would convict him of treason and have him executed. The legality of this threat has been subject to much debate, as it is legally dubious as to whether the Writs of the Setertiamillenniary can even be suspended, let alone whether their suspension could alter Eurasian law to such an extent that the inviolable personage of the Emperor would be subject to prosecution. In either case, Laurentius, realizing that he had lost most of his crucial allies in both the Senate and the nobility, assented to the abdication, and at midnight on May 14th, Marinus became Emperor of Eurasia. Following his ascension, Marinus quickly pardoned his brother and exiled him to Beneventum. Tribune Molinus then reinstated the Writs and adjourned the Senate. Soon after, Marinus promulgated the Marinian Reforms. Laurentius himself was assassinated later that year, and the Great War came to an end shortly thereafter. Category:Eurasia